James Taylor: Candidate profile

Bio

Name: James Taylor

City: Arlington Heights

Office sought: School Board Member

Age: 41

Family: I am married to my wife Bridgette who is a Child and Adolescent Licensed Clinical Social Worker for a Non-profit Community Mental Health Agency in Glenview. We have 3 beautiful children. Kevin age 8 attends Lake Louise Elementary School, Kyleigh age 5, was born with chromosomal abnormalities and complex medical issues. She attends the Modified Instructional Learning Environment (MILE) program at Gray M. Sanborn Elementary School. Aidan is 3 and he is in the Early Childhood Development Enrichment Center (ECDEC) pre-school program at Lake Louise Elementary School.

Occupation: I am a school-based Occupational Therapist

Education: I received my Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communications from Concordia University in River Forest Illinois and my Masters Of Occupational Therapy Degree from Governors State University in University Park, Illinois.

Civic involvement: None

Previous elected offices held: None

Incumbent? If yes, when were you first elected? No

Website: www.jamestaylorforschoolboard.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TaylorforDistrict15

Twitter: @JimTfor D15

Issue questions

What are the most important issues facing your district and how do you intend to address them?

I support the direction the board is taking the district and I believe I can help the board successful achieve their goals. For example, the implementation of a full day kindergarten program would enhance the districts ability to build solid foundational skills for life long learning. Second, I can help the board in its efforts to close achievement gaps in schools. I would accomplish this by ensuring that all initiatives adopted by the district are research-based programs, backed by scientific evidence of their success and that we support all programs and student progress in both general AND special education. Lastly, I'd like to see the district increase their focus on mental health awareness in the schools. Currently, there are some good programs in place including a district-wide anonymous bullying/safety tip hotline, an anti-bullying program called "Expect Respect" which is available at the elementary school level, and a suicide prevention program called "SOS" at the junior high level. These are excellent programs but the mental health and well being of our students goes well beyond bullying and includes depression, anxiety, and mood disorders to name a few. I'd work to increase staff training in the area of mental health awareness.

How satisfied are you that your school district is adequately preparing students for the next stage in their lives, whether it be from elementary into high school or high school into college or full-time employment? What changes, if any, do you think need to be made?

Overall I am continually impressed with the performance of the elementary schools my children attend and, in general, people I speak to in the community love their schools. In all things, there are always ways to improve. According to the Illinois State Board of Education Interactive Report Card for 2018, of the 19 schools there were 2 Exemplary schools, 13 Commendable Schools, and 4 Underperforming schools. Granted this is only a snapshot of the district, but 3 of the 4 district junior high schools scored in the "Underperforming" category. The district must take a closer look at this to determine what additional support is needed. Underperforming schools at such a pivotal point in a students education can be detrimental to their success as a student in higher education. I believe improvement can happen at the middle school level by creating and strengthening a professional learning community amongst the staff, doing our best to ensure the administrators and staff have the necessary support from the district and creating more opportunity to build even stronger positive student and staff relationships.

What budgetary issues will your district have to confront during the next four years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, be specific about programs and expenses that should be considered for reduction or elimination. On the income side, do you support any tax increases? Be specific.

Budgetary issues are something all organizations face on a regular basis but do not always have to be major problems for the organization. There are 2 big changes in the near future for district 15 that will potentially be budget discussions. First, the district is planning to implement a full-day Kindergarten program, which I support. However, even a tuition-based program will require support from the district. In addition, the district is currently working with a boundary task force to potentially change the boundaries to mitigate capacity concerns at several schools. Depending on the results of these boundary changes, budget decisions may also need to be made to support them. I strongly believe that there can be collaborative discussions within the board to meet the budgetary needs of these two issues. I would support creative budgetary changes before considering major budget cuts. The district should consider creative fundraising ideas such as Casino Night, Silent Auctions, Trivia Nights, or other district-wide events to offset costs. I would not support budget cuts to any area that would impact student safety or decrease the effectiveness of the academic programs. I also would not support a tax increase unless all other options have been explored.

Are you currently employed by or retired from a school district, if so, which one? Is any member of your direct family -- spouse, child or child-in-law -- employed by the school district where you are seeking a school board seat?

I am employed by The Exceptional Learners Collaborative (ELC) in Buffalo Grove. ELC is a special education cooperative and joint agreement between four school districts located in Buffalo Grove (Lake County), Illinois. Through the ELC I am placed in Kildeer Countryside School District 96. I am not employed by District 15 and neither is anyone in my family.

As contract talks come up with various school employee groups -- teachers, support staff, etc. -- what posture should the school board take? Do you believe the district should ask for concessions from its employees, expect employee costs to stay about the same as they are now or provide increases in pay or benefits?

I believe the school board should take a firm but flexible collaborative approach to contract negotiations and should hold the other party to the same standard. I also believe that it is important for the school board to take time during negotiations to look at the big picture. There is always more to a contract negotiation than what is presented at the table. In order to come up with a fair and reasonable contract, I believe the school board needs to know all sides. In addition, I do believe a fair annual salary increase should be part of a district employee contract.

If your district had a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement, would you support a substantial increase in his or her pay to help boost pension benefits? Why or why not?

I would not support any increase in pay for a superintendent or other administrator nearing retirement for the sole purpose of boosting pension benefits. Superintendents, administrators, and staff all have contracts in which salary is outlined in detail. A retiring administrator, regardless of their contribution to the school district, should not be given preferential consideration in regards to their salary. Doing so would be, in my opinion, unfair to the taxpayers and simply unethical.